Northern Mayhem
by KrazyAZNCommie
Summary: A Tiberian Sun fanfic, really great, I promse. Post a review, ok?
1. Default Chapter Title

Northern Mayhem Part 1: Last Stand Griffin Base's determined defenses fight a huge NOD invasion force. 

[0210 Day 1, near Lake Ladoga, former USSR] 

2nd Lt. Steve Mitchell slowly breathed in the cold night air and tried to warm himself up by huddling with Sgt. Freeman, his platoon seargent. It didn't work, and the freezing wind still stung Mitchell's face. 

Mitchell and his 42-man platoon were on guard duty in Griffin Base, one of the 3 GDI bases in the Baltics. The platoon had 32 light infantrymen and 10 grenadiers, nicknamed "disc throwers". With tiberium infecting all of the temperate regions of the planet, the polar and subpolar areas of the world were becoming more and more important. The GDI was trying to set up centers to research space warfare in northern Russia, where the centers would be safe from tiberium. From there, the scientists could work on building a space fleet to deter attacks by the alien species now known as the Scrin. Also, biochemists could work on a way of decontaminating/exterminating tiberium. 

However, Kane and the Brotherhood of NOD had other ideas. Mindlessly aggresive as always, they continued to attack GDI in hopes of gaining world domination. GDI military establishments like Griffin Base were built specifically to stop them and to protect the research centers. 

"Sir! Battalion CO's on the line!" yelled the platoon's radioman. Mitchell was part of the 27th Mech Infantry Battalion, who, along with her sister battalion, the 28th, was tasked with defending Griffin Base. 

Mitchell nodded and picked up the portable radio. "This is Bravo two six. Go." 

"Bravo two six, be advised, Orca fighter patrol Red Dog has picked up massive ground formation of attack buggies and attack cycles. Regional MSV briefly picked up Devil's Tongues, underground APCs, and cloaked Stealth Tanks moving more or less with them. They are en route to our position. Firestorm defense is on standby, and Mechs are deploying to the defense perimeter. Reinforcements are coming from other area bases. But you and 2 other platoons are the only infantry platoons that we have that are currently capable of fighting." 

"Understood, sir. We'll do our best. Bravo two six out," Mitchell replied. Then, he handed the radio back to his radioman and yelled at his platoon, "Huge NOD force coming our way. At arms, troops!" 

With a huge yell, the soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 27th Mech Infantry Battalion snapped the safety off their M-16 Mk. II assault rifles and dropped prone in the foxholes. 42 pairs of eyes looked ahead, watching for any sign of the enemy. Visibility was good because there were florescent street lights all over the base. They were very colorful, and the scene would've been quite beautiful if the imminent threat of death hadn't been hanging over the soldiers. 

Suddenly, one of the Vulcan towers erupted in flames, followed by a watchtower. Four decloaked Stealth Tanks came into visual range a second later. 

"Attack on the eastern perimeter! Counting 4, 5, 6, 7 Stealth Tanks decloaking and firing. Where're the Titan Mechs?" Mitchell shouted into the radio. He was pretty green and barely had any combat experience, so he was scared. 

"They're coming," his company CO, a captain, replied. 

"Yeah, well, they're coming too slow. Any other fire support?" Mitchell yelled. 

"Wolverines and Hover MLRS units are coming to your position. ETA less than 5 seconds. There's nothing else we can do. Out," the captain told him. 

Just then, an artillery shell exploded a few yards in front of him, kicking up dust and firey debris. Another two towers, this time RPG towers, were blown up. 

"Sir, we're not doing anything sitting here. We're just waiting to get killed. Let's go get their attention and draw fire away from the defenses!" Freeman suggested. He had considerably more combat experience than Mitchell and knew what had to be done. 

Mitchell nodded and yelled to his men, "Charge and engage!" 

The men ran forward and opened up, sending a dense stream of gunfire toward the 4 Subterranean APCs that had just popped up. At the same time, the EM Pulse Cannons finally locked onto the newly-decloaked stealth tanks and fired, momentarily disabling them. 12 other vehicles, mainly Attack Buggies, were disabled before all of the cannons were knocked out by NOD artillery. Mitchell's platoon easily cut down the troops that came out of the APC, then focused their gunfire on the APCs themselves. The disc throwers threw a barrage of grenades. The high explosive tore holes in the APCs' armor. More grenades went inside the holes and detonated, wrecking the vehicles from the inside. 

There was just enough time for the soldiers to see the Banshee fighter screaming in before it opened fire. Plasma streams flashed out, accurately hitting the platoon of soldiers. 12 men were killed, before they had the chance to scream. More Banshees came out of the dark sky, firing at the Firestorm emitters. While the SAM towers managed to down most of the Banshees, the Firestorm defense had been destroyed and the base was wide open. Then, 2 Devil's Tongue flame tanks popped up out of the ground and fired their flamethrowers. This time, the men had a chance to scream. 11 soldiers were hit and ran around with their flesh on fire, screaming like demons. The putrid smell of burning flesh made Mitchell's eyes water. 

"Shit!" Freeman yelled. "Pull back!" 

"Pull back!" Mitchell seconded as he retreated behind a wrecked Stealth Tank. Four Wolverines appeared, firing their assault cannons at the Devil's Tongues and Stealth Tanks. But the Wolverines were quickly overwhelmed. However, they had bought enough time for the Titan Mechs to finally come. 

From the shadows, 12 Titan Mechs came out and fired a furious barrage of 120mm shells. Devil's Tongues and Stealth Tanks erupted in fire, their thin armor no match for the 120mm shells. A detachment of Mammoth Tanks and Hover MLRS units also arrived, shooting more shells and missiles at the hapless attackers. It seemed like the GDI units were winning. 

But in warfare, nothing is ever as it seems. 

Without any warning the Banshees struck again. With the air defenses decimated, the 8 NOD fighters had no problem at all. They fired their plasma discharges, shooting up the heavy ground units. The Titans and Mammorth Tanks, even with their heavy armor, could not withstand the combined pounding. A Cluster Missile came and seperated into 10 projectiles, each hitting a different target. Any remaining GDI defenses on the eastern perimeter were destroyed. Two nuclear missiles dropped right into the middle of the base, where the tiberium refineries and power plants were, annihilating them. Then, NOD Harpy fighters came and went after the vulnerable MLRS vehicles. The GDI vehicles put up a brave fight, but the Harpies outnumbered them. More Stealth Tanks and Devil's Tongues poured in. 

At this point, the battle was 2 minutes old. 

Inside the now-penetrated Griffin Base, it was chaos. Tick tanks had come through the holes in the defense perimeter and had deployed, their cannons shooting up everything. Subterranean APCs poured in and disgorged Cyborgs and Rocket Infantry, who began destroying anything that they saw. Lights were shot out all over the place, and power plants were rapidly being destroyed. The base was running on minimal power, and power was cut off in all nonessential buildings. Units were being destroyed almost as soon as they were built. The pavement was all but gone, destroyed in the heavy GDI-NOD crossfire. 

The power was out to the defenses, watch towers, and lights, so the NOD units had an easy time destroying them. The entire perimeter collapsed and GDI units still inside the base were forced to dismantle their buildings to keep them from being taken over by NOD engineers. All of the GDI troops quickly climbed onto any vehicle that could still travel and rolled out of the base. And just in time, too -- a Tiberian Missile hit the base and spread poisonous gas as well as tiberian veins around a large area. 

Mitchell watched in horror as the seemingly-invincible base fell apart. He was shook out of his daze by Freeman, who had rounded up all of the surviving members of Mitchell's infantry company. The company commander had died in the attack, and since Mitchell was the most senior officer in the unit, he would command the 70 or so survivors of the NOD attack. 

"Sir! We've gotta get out of here!" Freeman screamed to be heard over the loud explosions. 

Mitchell quickly recovered. "Uh, right. Do we have any APCs left?" 

"No sir," Freeman told him. 

Mitchell suddenly got an idea. "Where's the school?" 

Freeman raised an eyebrow. "Sir?" 

"The school. There's a school in this base, isn't there?" Mitchell yelled. 

"Yes sir, but--" 

"The school buses! We can load the men onto the buses!" Mitchell explained. 

Freeman nodded slowly. "Yes sir. This way." They began running toward the small school in the base. The children of the base's officers went there while their parents worked. With any luck, the buses would be intact and the children would be safe. 

Overhead, 6 Orca fighters passed by and released their missiles. Some Orca bombers followed and dropped large high explosive "blockbuster" bombs. If GDI couldn't hold Griffin Base, then they sure as hell would make NOD pay dearly for it. 

***** 

Major Robert Terrell knew of the NOD attack on Griffin Base. He knew of the fierce but futile GDI resistance. He knew of the Banshee fighters' strike. And he knew of the nuclear attack. However, there was only one thing on his mind right now, and that was putting his missiles on target. 

Terrell's squadron of Orca fighters had 23 Orca fighters currently; it had started out with 36. His squadron commander had been killed in a strike, and Terrell had taken command. That had been 2 weeks ago. Or was it 3? Since the war had began, it had become difficult to keep track of all of the days. Terrell was of medium build, with a hard and chiseled 6'1" body and a trim beard. He had a good personality, and he usually used his wit and pleasantness to cheer up his fellow pilots. However, he had watched so many good friends die, attended so many funerals of loved ones, that it was hard to maintain a positive attitude. 

"Blue Knight Lead, this is White Knight Lead. How copy?" sounded on the scrambled inter-strike radio frequency, shaking Terrell back to reality. White Knight Flight was a flight of Orca bombers that were scheduled to strike just before his own flight. 

He hit the com button. "Blue Knight here. Tangos in sight, TTT is 10 seconds." TTT stood for Time To Target. 

"Roger, ball's in your court. Our bombs should give you some cover fire," White Knight Lead replied. 

Ahead, Terrell saw 4 Orca bombers release their bombs and peel away. Seconds later, the bombs detonated in a terrific sheet of fire that killed all of the troops below and damaged the vehicles. The explosions were enough to stun the NOD forces for a second and prevent the surviving rocket infantry from firing, at least for the time being. 

"Blue Knight Flight, this is Lead. Follow me in," Terrell radioed as he put his fighter in a slight dive, leading his flight of 12 Orcas straight into the jaws of hell. 

***** 

The concussion of the Orca bombers' bombs exploding almost knocked the men off their feet. But they managed to keep on going. Finally, they reached the school. Four school buses were waiting for them. 

Mitchell yelled at the commanding officers of his 1st and 2nd Squads, "Have your squads follow me into the school to find the kids." Then he turned to Freeman. "Seargent, you and the rest of the men try to keep the Noddies off our backs for as long as possible." 

Freeman nodded, pleased that his platoon leader was taking charge. "Yes sir. Good luck sir." 

Mitchell lowered his head and led the two squads of 9 men each into the school building. 

As soon as they got inside, the smell of burning wood and flesh hit them. The building was on fire, and was in danger of collapsing. They had to hurry. 

They ran down the hallway, kicking open doors and yelling for any kids to join them. Outside, they heard sounds of gunfire. 

Suddenly, as they rounded a corner, two NOD soldiers came into view. 

"Dammit! Fire!" Mitchell yelled. He quickly raised his M-16 and fired a 3-round burst into the head of one of the Noddies. It split open like a ripe melon. Another man shot the other enemy soldier before the surprised Noddie could react. 

"Kids!" shouted one of the soldiers from 2nd Squad. 

"Come out!" Mitchell added. 

After a few moments, 9 young, frightened faces emerged. The soldiers immediately rushed forward and offered their backs. The kids, glad at seeing friendly faces, climbed on. 

As Mitchell steadied his child into a good position for carrying, he asked, "Are you kids the only ones left?" 

The child on his back spoke up, "Y-y-y-y-yes. Everyone else is dead." 

Mitchell didn't ask how they died. He wasn't so sure he wanted to know. 

A minute later, the 2 squads came out of the building and rushed to the defensive perimeter that Freeman and the others had set up. 

"We got all the survivors. Let's go!" Mitchell yelled as stopped next to Freeman. Freeman and his troops were currently shooting at a NOD infantry platoon that had stumbled onto them. While the platoon was easily slaughtered, heavy reinforcements would undoubtedly come. Time to get the hell out of dodge. 

Freeman nodded at Mitchell, then turned to the troops and yelled, "Fall back! Get on the buses, now!" 

As soon as the NOD platoon was decimated, the troops and the children ran onto the buses. Each could carry 20 passengers, so there was no problem with space. Once everyone was onboard, the designated drivers gunned the engines and the buses accelerated forward, away toward the NOD-free western gate of the base. 

"Sir!" yelled one of the soldiers sitting in the back of Mitchell's bus. "We've got problems. I see 3, 4, 5, 6 Attack Cycles and 2 Attack Buggies in hot pursuit. 

Mitchell looked back and saw the same thing. "Fuck! They're much faster than us; we can't outrun them." 

An explosion erupted dangerously close to their right side, kicking up dust and debris. The bus rocked side-to-side, then steadied and continued. 

Freeman suddenly grabbed the portable radio and began adjusting it. Mitchell looked at him and asked, "What're you doing?" 

"There's bound to be friendly aircraft in the vicinity. I'm trying to call one up on GUARD," Freeman replied. He tapped the TRANSMIT button and said, "This is Bravo Company of the 27th Mech Infantry Battalion to any GDI aircraft in the area. We are fleeing the base, headed west in 4 school buses. I repeat, we are headed west on 4 school buses. We have 6 Attack Cycles and 2 Attack Buggies on our tails. Requesting immediate assistance. Again, this Bravo Company of the 27th mech Infatry Battalion..." 

***** 

"...Requesting immediate assistance," the message finished. 

Terrell had been monitoring the GUARD channel and had heard the plea for help. He and his fighters had finished their attack run with most of their missiles still unfired; the targets had fled, and there had been no reason to chase after them, which would just waste fuel and missiles. 

He opened a channel with the E-16 AWACS command-and-control plane, code name Sky Eye. "Sky Eye, this is Blue Knight Lead. Were you guys monioring GUARD?" 

"Affirmative. We've pinpointed the source of the call, and we're transferring the coordinates to you now," Sky Eye replied. A moment later, a new dot appeared on Terrell's moving map display (MMD). "You are directed to proceed there ASAP and engage any enemy ground units." 

"Blue Knight wilco. Out," Terrell agreed. He wagged his wings to signal to his flight that he was going to turn, then banked right toward the location of the buses. A few moments later, he called out, "I see them on IR. Four buses, moving single-file, being chased by 6 ACs and 2 ABs. Buses are under fire." 

He focused on his HUD, selecting the closest AC to fire at. His target indicator box turned read and a tone beeped in his helmet, signalling a lock. "Hellfires away." 

A cluster of missiles rapid-fired away from his aircraft, and he immediately banked hard left to evade any incoming missiles. And indeed, two missiles from the middle AC streaked up after him. He immediately banked right, too fast for the missiles to follow. He looked back and saw his missiles slam into the AC head-on, making it explode in a brilliant white-hot ball of fire. 

"I'm turning around to make another overhead pass. I've depleted my missiles, but I can draw their fire," he announced as he made a rapid 9-G turn back toward the enemy vehicles. Ahead, 5 volleys of missiles slammed into and destroyed all of the ABs and 3 ACs. Unfortunately, two missiles from an AC streaked up and slammed right into the engines of Blue Knight 7. The fighter, already damaged, exploded in mid-air. There was no ejection. 

The other two ACs fired off 4 more missiles at Terrell, which he easily outran (he was at the outer limits of the missiles' range). Then, they turned tail and headed back for Griffin Base. However, another 4 volleys of missiles ended them in a fiery blaze of destruction. 

"Bravo Company, your tail is clear," Terrell announced. 

"Roger that." 

Behind them, a team of commandos lased the base. Shortly after, an ion canon beam smacked into the middle of the base and eliminated the highest concentration of NOD units. A fresh wave of airstrikes roared in, destroying or heavily damaging the remainder of the NOD force. NOD may have destroyed Griffin Base, but now they had nothing to show for it except a lot of casualties. The commando team, Bravo Company, and Terrell's squadron slipped into the night. 

Griffin Base had sighed its last breath. 


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: Disruptive Behavior 

[Day 3, out in the woods] 

"So, can you fix it?" asked Mitchell. He was talking to one of the company's mechanics. A bus had broken down and they needed to get back on the road. Checkmate Base was still a good 20 miles away, and the sooner they got there, the sooner they'd have protection from the random NOD patrols that were reportedly in the area. 

The mechanic kicked the bus, frustrated. "Damn! Transmission's out, batteries are dead, and gas is on minimum. Even if I can get it running, it won't get more than half a mile. But that don't really matter, since I can't even get it running." 

Suddenly, multiple cracks reverberated through the air, and sparks pinged off of the sides of the idle buses. 

"Incoming!" Freeman screamed at the top of his lungs. 

"Omnidirectional fire, now!" Mitchell commanded, his sense of survival overcoming his anxiousness and fear. 

The troops formed a tight circle, with the buses in the middle, and began pouring gunfire into the forest in all directions. Meanwhile, they tightened their circle continuously, retreating back into the buses one-by-one. Mitchell, Freeman, and 1st Platoon's remaining two squads were the last ones to remain outside. 

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Mitchell saw a grenade arcing through the air at them. For a moment, he was just frozen, stiff with fear. His muscles wouldn't budge, and he was too scared to command them to move. Fortunately, Freeman also saw the grenade. He caught it and tossed it right back into the direction that it came from. A moment later, an explosion and some gurgling screams were heard. 

"You okay, sir?" Freeman asked, noticing his commander's horrified expression. 

"That, that, that grenade--" 

"Let's go, sir!" Freeman yelled, much more commanding and urgent this time. It was enough to jerk Mitchell out of his trance. They backed up into one of the three remaining buses and told the driver to get the bus the hell out of dodge. The driver didn't need to be told twice. The bus took off like a bat out of hell, leaving the carnage behind them. 

Since the passengers of the broken bus had to board the other three buses, each bus was much more crowded. People had to sit three-to-a-seat or stand up. Mitchell and Freeman were two of the standing ones. After Freeman had conversed with all of the platoon leaders, Mitchell asked him for a head count. 

"We got 3 wounded, 2 missing, and 2 killed, sir," Freeman reported 

Mitchell shook his head. "Shit, 3 WIA, 2 MIA, and 2 KIA? If this keeps up, we'll all be dead before we can get to Checkmate Base." 

Freeman said nothing, preferring to signal his grim agreement with a short nod. After a while, Michell said, "Seargent, I'm a little...concerned about my performance back there." 

"You did fine, sir. You took charge of the situation and you got most of us out in one piece," Freeman told him. 

"I...When that grenade came at us, I froze up. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do. I don't know, maybe I'm too cowardly to be a commander. I'm just not brave enough," Mitchell confessed. 

Freeman placed a large hand on Mitchell's right shoulder. "Sir, as far as I'm concerned, you're one of the better ones. Most new L-T's come out of the Academy so full of piss and vinegar, ready to take on the entire NOD army. They think that they're 10 foot tall and bulletproof. Well, they're wrong. Most of them don't make it through their first engagement. You're more cautious and intelligent, which makes you a good officer. It's good to have fear. Fear motivates you, protects you. You just have to learn to not let it overwhelm you. And you're a bright kid, I think you can do that. Remember, bravery isn't about being fearless, it's about being scared shitless and still doing what needs to be done." 

Mitchell nodded slowly. "Thank you, Seargent." 

Freeman grinned. "No problem, L-T." 

Just then, four vehicles popped out of the woods and began driving alongside the buses. Mitchell was about to call out a warning when he recognized the vehicles: GDI Amphibious APC's. 

Freeman grinned again. "Looks like we've got escorts. We're gonna be okay, L-T. You got us out of this, safe and sound." 

***** 

"Driver, stop!" Master Seargent Daniel Cadwell, commander of one of GDI's few Mammoth Mk. IIs, yelled to his driver. A moment later, the giant vehicle's legs stopped moving. Cadwell and his crew had arrived at Checkmate Base. 

With the fall of Griffin Base, more units were being sent as reinforcements to the other bases in the region. The research centers had to be protected, and the only way to ensure that was to get enough defenses together to repel any further NOD attack. Cadwell's mech was one of the 10 Mammoth Mk. IIs and 64 vehicles overall being sent to reinforce Checkmate Base. 

"Hey Danny, you think this place will hold if the Noddies decide to make a house call?" his gunner yelled. 

"I think that we'll kick their asses!" Cadwell replied. 

"Well said, old chap!" yelled the driver, who was of British descent. 

Their conversation had been broadcasted over one of the base frequencies, and now everybody on the frequency gave a hearty cheer. 

***** 

Meanwhile, NOD was doing its best to try to hinder the GDI reinforcement efforts. Deep-cover guerillas and special operatives were being sent to sabotage command centers, bridges, supply centers, anything that would aid GDI in its effort to reinforce its bases. 

One such operative, an individual known only as Agent X, was standing inside a civilian city allied with GDI. The city had numerous armories and hospitals that were being used to upgrade GDI vehicles and treat GDI soldiers. His job was to find them, destroy them, and then "engage any targets of opportunity". Armed with silenced M9A3 silenced gun, cloaking device, C4 plastique explosives, and a genetically-enhanced mind, he was determined to do just that. 

However, as he stood in front of a hospital, his cloaking device making him invisible to everyone, he had to wonder, "What the hell am I doing here?" This was a civilian building, run by civilians. These were not the aggressive GDI monsters who were threatening to destroy his sacred Brotherhood. 

With a barely audible sigh, he went over the the hospital and planted the explosive charges, then ran for cover. A moment later, the hospital was destroyed. Out of the 200 people inside, none survived. 

The city militia and police officers looked around wildly, searching for the saboteur. Ducking through crowds of screaming and running people, Agent X ran toward his next target--the city's main armory. 

To get there, he had to cut through an alley. He ran fast, his heart pounding, his mind blocking the screams around him. Suddenly, just before he reached the opening of the alley, he saw a swarm of children, no older than 6 or 7, running right at him. Of course, they couldn't see him; they were just scared, and running any way they could go. 

Unfortunately, they clogged X's way, and he couldn't get to the armory. His mind clearly rememberd what the NOD handbook said about situations like this: SHOOT ANY AND ALL INDIVIDUALS THAT STAND IN YOUR WAY. With his rapid-fire sniper gun, that would've been an easy thing to do. But for God's sake, these were kids! He couldn't shoot young, innocent, defenseless kids! 

Without second thought, he ran back out of the alley and tried a different route. Although he didn't know it, he had taken his first step toward humanity. 

Without any further stops, he reached the armory quickly. Laying his gun down, he began planting the C4. Since the armory was a much bigger and heavily-armored building than the hospital, he had to plant more explosives. 

Suddenly, right when he was working, a Mobile Sensor Array was activated about 50 yards away from him. The cloaking device faltered, and X's form snapped into the visible spectrum. 

He heard a gasp and then a loud "Stop!" behind him, and he knew that he had been detected. He turned around. A young militia officer and his little girl were staring right at him. By the looks of things, the father-daughter couple had been taking a pleasant afternoon stroll through the city when the MSA had revealed Agent X's prescence. Now, the officer had his gun pointed at X, and he was reaching for his walkie talkie to call for backup. 

X knew that if more officers came, he was toast. So, he made the only tactically sound decision available to him. He quickly reached over, picked up his gun, and skillfully shot the young officer twice in the head. 

A piercing scream seemed to crack the air, and for a moment, time stopped. The scream had come from the little girl, who had watched her father get his brains blown out. 

X knew that the girl's screams would attract attention, and that attention was the last thing that he needed right now. He knew that the tactically sound decision was to shoot the girl, too. His instincts screamed at him to pull the trigger. However, all he could see, all he could focus on, was the little girl's pale-white face. Hot little tears were running her cheek, and her eyes were wide with fright and confusion as she stared at her father's killer. She couldn't believe, couldn't imagine why anyone would kill her dear father. And so she stared, lost. 

The image of the little girl's face as she looked at her father's murderer was permanently burned into Agent X's memory. 

Kill her! Kill her! She's the enemy!!! 

No! NO!! That's an innocent little girl! She's not the enmey!! 

They're all GDI puppets!! PULL THE TRIGGER!!!! 

DON'T DO IT!! DON'T SHOOT HER!!!! 

With a great ammount of effort, X tore his eyes away from the girl and focused on the matter at hand. Quickly, he fired at the MSA 50 yards away from him. After a few shots, the MSA exploded, and X's cloaking device came back online. Agent X faded from sight, and continued to his next objective. 

Throughout the next hour, X destroyed half a dozen buildings. Twice, ammunition in the destroyed armories cooked off, sending hazardous plums of fire streaking into the sky. The explosions caused 950 deaths and 137 injuries, including 91 second- and third-degree burns. 

His mission accomplished, Agent X commandeered a pickup truck and silently drove toward the NOD guerilla camp that served as the headquarters for all NOD commandos in the sector. 

***** 

"Welcome to Checkmate Base" was written on a sign above the entrance that Mitchell's bus drove through. Mitchell chuckled silently -- he doubted that the defenders of this base would feel that way when a bunch of Noddies began shooting at them. Combat had given Mitchell a sobering experience, and he now knew that know matter how powerful a base may seem, there were always weaknesses. 

"Sir, look!" said one of the privates. Mitchell turned his head toward the direction that the private was looking at. 

"Whoa!" he said silently to himself. Before him, lined up in a straight row, were no less than 10 Mammoth Mk. IIs. Even Seargent Freeman had to give a low whistle of amazement at the giant mechs before them. Even Griffin Base had only 4 MMIIs! 

The MMIIs' crews began climbing out. Mitchell knew that the mechs just come as part of GDI's reinforcements, and their crews needed some rest. Since NOD had worn out most of its ground assault forces while chewing up Griffin Base, the odds of an attack were very low, so the soldiers were taking a load off. Even if an attack did come, the numerous RPG, Vulcan, and SAM towers that plus the fully-alert Firestorm emitters would stop any assault. There were 2 layers of reinforced concrete walls in the perimeter, with automatic gates at certain spots. Plus, there were no less than 3 layers of RPG and Vulcan towers immediately behind the walls. Watch towers supported the defenses, making night targeting easier. SAM towers were right beside them, protecting the defenses from any air assault. Plus, throughout the entire base, Vulcan towers and light posts were everywhere. Not a single square inch of the base was left uncovered. Add that to the fact that the numerous MSAs and pavement made a stealth entrance impossible, and Checkmate Base was pretty much invincible from attack. But then again, that's what they had said about Griffin Base. 

As he got off of his bus, Mitchell was shaken from his thoughts by a yell. He turned around and saw an officer running toward him. By his uniform decorations, Mitchell could tell that it was a captain. 

Mitchell saluted. "Second Lt. Steven Mitchell, GDI, serial number one-five-three-seven-Mike-Charlie-nine-Hotel-oh-oh." 

The captain returned the salute and smiled. "Easy, soldier. This isn't an interrogation. Are you the surviving senior officer of Griffin Base's defenses?" 

"What's left of them," Mitchell replied dejectedly. 

"Don't blame yourself. There was nothing else that could've been done. The attack took us all by surprise. No one blames you for what happened, so you shouldn't blame yourself. You're no use to your superiors or your subordinates when you're busy pitying yourself. Now, come on, we need you Since you have veteran experience with NOD's offensives, you can show us what their tactics are likely to be during an attack. You'll report to the HQ for this. Afterwards, you and the remnants of your battalion will be assigned to reinforce the guards of the east wall." 

Mitchell nodded. 

As the captain turned to leave, he suddenly stopped and said. "Oh yeah, you have a guest. She's waiting for you in your temporary quarters, 127F." 

Mitchell was puzzled. A guest? A she? His aunts, mother, and grandmothers had all been killed by either NOD attacks or Tiberian poisoning. The only living relative that he had was his little brother, Eric, who was in a daycare station in space. 

So who could it be? Maybe...oh God. Oh no. Oh dear God PLEASE don't let it be HER! 

Mitchell ran all the way to his quarters. When he got there, his suspicions were confirmed. Sitting on the couch, reading a magazine, was his girlfriend, Rachel. 

Rachel looked up. "Hey baby." 

Mitchell took off his coat and sat down next to her. "What are you doing here?! This is a war zone! You know that civilians aren't safe here!!" 

Rachel placed a hand on his cheek. "Aw, you're so sweet when you're worried." 

Mitchell continued, "Everybody here is in constant danger! Didn't you hear about what happened to my base? Didn't you hear about all the death and destruction?" 

Rachel nodded. 

"Well then WHY ARE YOU HERE?!?1" 

Rachel hugged him. "Stevey, it's exactly because I heard that Griffin Base had been destroyed that I came here. I wanted to be where I could keep an eye on you. Honey, the fighting that you do, it's really dangerous. I'm always scared for your life. I just thought that if I was here, with you, I could do something to help keep you alive." 

Mitchell returned her hug. "Honey, you're right. The fighting here is very dangerous. Now, you're the closest family that I have, and you're putting yourself at risk by being out here. I couldn't lose you. Do you understand? I simply couldn't live if I lost you. The best way that you could help me is to go home." 

Rachel stepped back. "I can't do that." 

"Why?" 

"I was sick of not being able to do anything to affect this war while the people closest to me got killed, one by one. So, I enlisted. I'm the gunner of one of the east wall's RPG towers," replied Rachel as she went over to the desk. She reached down, picked up a piece of paper, and showed it to him. It was an enlistment certificate. 

"The east wall is where any NOD forces are likely to attack," said Mitchell, stating the obvious. 

"Yes." 

"And since RPG towers are the biggest threat, they're going to go for those first." 

"Yes." 

"My God, why?" 

Rachel walked over to him and kissed him. When she pulled away, she held his face in her hands. "Because I want to be able to protect you from those Stealth Tanks and Devil's Tongues and Cyborgs that killed your comrades. Because maybe I love you just a little bit too much." 

And after saying that, she left his quarters. 

Mitchell sat there, stunned. Another thing to worry about. Another loved one waiting to be claimed by this war. He buried his head in his hands and silently whispered, "Shit." 

***** 

Meanwhile, Lt. Wolfgang Seydlitz had his own problems. While these ones were considerably less important than Mitchell's they were no less real. The phase regulators for his tank's cloaking device were malfunctioning again, thanks to another one of those blasted ion storms. 

"At this rate, we'll never get to our target," his driver muttered. 

Seydlitz wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. While he was scared of fighting and possibly dying, he had a duty to protect the Brotherhood from all of its evil enemies. A true believer in the NOD cause, Seydlitz had grown up in communist East Germany. There, he had been bred into a pure Nazi and communist. Anything that stood in the way of his vision for an utopian communist world (as contradictory as that was) was perceived as a threat. 

"Comrade Lieutenant, I think it is fixed," his platoon seargent suddenly yelled. 

Seydlitz and his crew climbed into their tank, and punched the cloak-initiate button. A moment later, a crackling sound followed by a SHIIIIIIIIIIING sound announced that the tank was cloaked. 

Without any celebration, Seydlitz ordered his driver to go forward. As Seydlitz's tank started rolling forward, the others followed. The small 4-tank platoon began heading driving toward the rendezvous point where hundreds, perhaps thousands of other NOD vehicles would meet up. From there, they would launch a huge base assault which would hopefully annihilate the largest and most powerful GDI base in the region: Checkmate Base. 

The largest battle so far in history was hours away from commencing. 


	3. Chapter 3

Northern Mayhem - Part 3: Strategic Developements 

[2300 Day 6, Checkmate Base] 

"Sir, I've got a field report from one of our OPs (Observation Points)," one of the radio officers in Checkmate Base's Comm Center informed the officer in charge of the base's offensive/defensive operations (ODOPS), Colonel Donald Richardson. 

"That's good for you. You mind telling me what's in it?" Richardson asked sardonically. 

"Uh, yes sir, sorry," the radio officer hastily apologized. "It seems that OP Juliet 7, which is 20 miles away on the eastern side, has observed grass being flattened by some unseen force. Furthermore, the paths of flattened grass look very much like inprints left by tank tracks." 

"Well? What do the OP guys think?" Richardson asked impatiently. 

"They think they're tanks, sir," the radio guy replied. 

Taken aback by the private's brisk answer, Richardson replied, "No shit, Sherlock. That's not really a great leap in concept there." 

Figuring out that the colonel was less than thrilled with his first answer, the young officer said, "Uh, no sir. I mean yes sir. I mean no sir. Um, anyways... They think that the tracks belong to cloaked Stealth Tanks. They say that judging from the number of tracks, it's probably a battalion to brigade size unit." 

Richardson sighed. "Who's in charge of eastern perimeter defenses?" 

One of the officers flipped through a booklet, and called out, "Uh, Master Seargent Daniel Cadwell, sir." 

Richardson raised an eyebrow. "A seargent in charge of a defense force the size of 2 brigades? Don't they have someone of a more senior rank?" 

"Yes. Lieutenant Colonel Parker is the most senior officer there; he's in charge of the 11th Armor Battalion. However, since we're losing people so quickly in this war, very rapid field promotions have been heard of; Parker was only a 2nd lieutenant a week ago. Cadwell has had far more combat experience than any other field commander we have in the area. He knows the ropes and is an elite veteran, so he's been put in charge," the officer replied. 

"Sir," the radio officer suddenly called out, "OPs Hotel 9 and Lima 2 reporting mass formations of NOD vehicles, division size, closing in on the eastern side. Also, Charlie 5 and November 5 reporting battalion size forces closing in on the northern and southern perimeters." 

"Get me Cadwell, now!" 

1***** 

The defenses of the Eastern Perimeter are highly organized and efficient. It has 3 mechanized infantry battalions, 1 armor battalion, 2 airborne companies, 4 artillery batteries, 2 MMII platoons, and a reserve force of troops, code-named Team Nightmare. Of course, there's also couple hundred defensive towers. Each mechanized infantry battalion is made of 2 companies of 14 Wolverines each, 2 companies of 135-150 troops and 27-30 APCs each, and a headquarters platoon including the command staff, communications staff, liaisons, 2 squads of 10 troops each for security, and 4 APCs. The armor battalion is made of 3 companies of 18 Titans each (4 platoons of 4 Titans each plus the company commander and his XO's Titans) and 2 companies of 14 Disruptor Tanks each. Each airborne company consists of 120 Jumpjet Infantry. Each artillery battery has 6 Hover MLRSes each. The 2 MMII platoons, which, of course, are from Cadwell's force, have 4 MMIIs each--the other 2 MMIIs were for Cadwell and his XO, since they were the overall force commanders. 

Team Nightmare was made of remnants of the 27th and 28th Mech Infantry Battalions, the ones that had unsuccessfully defended Griffin Base. Since these troops had all experienced grueling combat, they were all veterans and were considered elite. They were the wild cards, the aces-in-the-hole. They consisted of 24 Wolverines, 42 APCs, and 210 troops, with Former-Lieutenant-now-promoted-to-Captain Steve Mitchell as the commander. Since Team Nightmare was designed for rapid-deployment to a target area, the slow Titans, Disruptor Tanks, and MMIIs were left behind. 

(You may want to write/print the above down. It may be a bit hard for you to remember all this crap in the middle of the fighting.) 

Sitting in his MMII, doing a systems check while his crew napped, Cadwell was almost glad to receive the transmission from the Comm Center, even though he knew it had to be bad news; at least something was going on that would rescue him from the boring systems check. 

"Rattlesnake 1, come in," he heard on the scrambled HQ-ED (Headquarters - Eastern Defenses) channel. 

"Rattlesnake 1 here. Go," Cadwell replied, at the same time activating a buzzing "red alert" alarm within the vehicle to wake up his crew. 

"This is Home Plate. Be advised, hostiles inbound to your position, 20 miles away and closing fast. There is a spearhead brigade, followed by two divisions, heading toward you. Also, NOD battalions are heading for the northern and southern perimeters, but don't worry about that," Richardson told him. 

After muttering a soft curse, Cadwell replied, "Understood, sir. We are ready and on alert. Rattlesnake out." 

He opened the Eastern Perimeter Standard Comm Channel and said, "Okay slackers, up and at 'em. We are on Red Alert, Weapons Tight condition. Keep all lights off and rely on NVGs and our fighter patrols to tell you where the enemy is. We are running silent, people, don't let 'em hear anything. Open up when they're within the no-escape range of your weapons, surprise them and nail them good with your first volley. Now, sound off." 

"55th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, sounding off." "11th Armor Battalion, sounding off." "39th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, sounding off." "2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, sounding off." "Alpha Company, 7th Airborne Battalion, sounding off." "Bravo Company, 7th Airborne Battalion, sounding off." "Beta Artillery Battery, sounding off." "Gamma Artillery Battery, sounding off." "Lambda Artillery Battery, sounding off." "Omicron Artillery Battery, sounding off." "1st Platoon, Elite Heavy Armor Company, sounding off." "2nd Platoon, Elite Heavy Armor Company, sounding off." "Team Nightmare, sounding off." "Eastern Perimeter RPG towers, sounding off." "Eastern Perimeter Vulcan towers, sounding off." "Eastern Perimeter SAM towers, sounding off." 

"Good," Cadwell replied. "From now on, radio silence until we engage." 

***** 

Terrell walked into the Helipad Area, otherwise known as the Duck Gallery by most army grunts. His squadron was parked in the southwestern corner, and he quickly trotted over there. His mission was clear, and he had to takeoff to provide the grunts with close air support. 

"Hey, boss," his wingman announced his presence. 

"Hey Willy," Terrell answered. The wingman's real name was Jonathon Simmons, but everybody called him Willy, because his face looked kind of like that of the famous late 20th century killer whale, Keiko, who starred in the Free Willy movies. It was a nickname that Terrell's wingman wasn't particularly fond of, but he had gotten used to it. 

"Ready to risk your neck for those ungrateful army bastards?" Willy asked. 

Terrell laughed. "I ain't never ready, but it's what I get paid to do." 

"What?! You mean they actually PAY us for this?" 

"Ha ha ha and ha. Get into your cockpit." 

Willy grinned. "Aye chief." 

Terrell hopped into his reliable old warbird. He'd flown this same Orca since the beginning of Operation Northern Mayhem, the plan that had called for the construction of the research centers and defense bases. It still had the fresh scent of barf in it and was full of battle scars--even after the service bays had repaired it. 

Tapping his comm button, Terrell announced his every move as he did it. "Starting engines. I have a good ignition. Inserting FLIGHTDAT chip and downloading mission info. Weapons systems armed. Weapons pylons and weapons bay are responsive. Radar, IR, and JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Display System--a screen that combines the data and targets from every friendly plane, vehicle, ground FAC, AWACS, and satellite in the area and puts them over a moving map display. This idea is actually from the late 20th century. Good ideas never die.) link are all operational. This bird is good to go." 

After his wingman and the 14 other Orcas in his flight had announced the same thing, Tower Control said, "Roger and good hunting. Bring back some Noddie heads for papa." 

"Wilco. Sheriff 1 taking off." And so saying, Terrell rotated his engines to 90 degrees straight down and fired them up to afterburner. The sleek fighter lifted off the ground. Then, the engines rotated back to fully straight and the fighter shot off like a rocket. The other Orcas followed, settling into 4 Diamond formations. 

***** 

Seydlitz's tanks were right behind the initial line of NOD attackers, which made them some of the first targets that the GDI defenses would pick to shoot at. Even though they were Stealth Tanks, that didn't mean crap when there were MSAs everywhere in the base, hiddenly safely away. As a result, the NOD stealth forces were revealed for all of the GDI defenders to see, while GDI had been very good about hiding itself so far. Seydlitz and his comrades knew that the base was nearby--it was obvious, since their cloaking devices weren't working--but they didn't know exactly where. 

***** 

"Range 500 yards!" Cadwell's gunner reported as the first NOD wave came into view. 

"WEAPONS FREE, LIGHTS ON, LET 'EM HAVE IT!" Cadwell roared. 

The resulting sound, for lack of a better word, must've been heard for dozens of miles around. Rifles, cannons, missile launchers, sonic disrupters, grenade-throwing arms, Vulcan cannons, and RPG launchers all fired simultaneously, creating a thunderous roar that would be continuous for the next 2 hours. 

The devastation of that first barrage became painfully clear as a thousand explosions rocked the ground. The front NOD Stealth Tanks, Attack Cycles, and Attack Buggies were quickly blown apart, creating a hail of flying, flaming debris. Most crews managed to get at least 1 or 2 men away from their crippled/destroyed vehicles, but some had really bad luck. For instance, one Stealth Tank had been struck on the side by no less than five 120mm shells. The heat and shrapnel made the missiles inside the tank blow up, gutting the tank from the inside-out. 

The next NOD wave quickly executed evasive maneuvers and began pouring missiles and bullets toward the defenses in an effort to suppress them. Subterranean APCs popped up and disgorged infantry, who quickly dropped to the ground and began firing. Unfortunately for them, the Wolverines and infantry of the front battalion--the 2nd Mech Infantry Battalion--also began firing. The bullets kicked up dust as well as globs of blood as they hit heads, arms, legs, shoulders, just about every imaginable place on the human body. The Vulcan cannons of the Vulcan towers and Jumpjet Infantry helped, chattering merrily as they hosed down NOD infantry while taking extremely light losses themselves. 

***** 

Seydlitz didn't know how, but his Stealth Tank had survived so far without a scratch. His wingman was also there, alongside him. That tank was a little beat up, but still in good shape. He didn't have a clue as to the other 2 tanks in his platoon, and he didn't care right now. Survival was all that mattered. 

"GUNNER! ARM MISSILE LAUNCHER!" he shouted. 

"ARMED! TARGET TITAN, TWO O'CLOCK!" the gunner replied. 

Seydlitz looked into his commander's IR sight and saw the Titan that the gunner had referred to--at least, he thought he did, since there were so many Titans it was hard to tell one from the other. "CONFIRMED! DRIVER, REVERSE PATH!"--doing so would throw off any GDI guns aimed at them--"GUNNER, FIRE!" 

Two Dragon missiles streaked out from the tank and accelerated to Mach 5 as it homed in on the Titan. Just before impact, some other Dragon missiles slammed into the Titan, heavily damaging it. Seydlitz's missiles finished it off as they hit the midriff, the resulting explosion cooking off the 120mm shells inside and lifting the 25-foot mech into the air. Seydlitz's driver snickered as the mech came down from its explosion-induced flight and crashed into the ground, sending shrapnel and debris everywhere as GDI troops ran for cover. All around Seydlitz, NOD was counterattacking. Artillery shells came in and pounded the GDI infantry with devastating 155mm high-explosive rounds. Having recovered from its initial shock, the Stealth Tanks, ACs, and Devil's Tongues fired into the defenses furiously, quickly destroying many vehicles and RPG towers. The ABs, light infantry, cyborgs, and even a cyborg commando were shooting at the GDI defenses as fiercely as the latter were shooting at them. Although more NOD troops were being ripped up by shells, railguns, missile volleys, grenades, and bullets, they were fighting back. 

"WE'RE HIT!" the driver suddenly announced. 

Seydlitz looked at the Damage Display Screen in front of him. A 120mm shell from another Titan had struck his Stealth Tank head-on, knocking out the targeting sight, enviromental controls, and slowing the tank down by tearing some nice rips in the tracks. 

"DRIVER! BACK UP, BACK UP!" yelled Seydlitz, suddenly very aware of how vulnerable his tank was. "GUNNER, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ANY POTENTIAL ATTACKERS OR TARGETS! ALSO, TRANSFER WEAPONS CONTROLS TO ME!" Since the gunner's targeting sight was out, he couldn't aim any missiles; however, Seydlitz could use his commander's sight to aim. 

"AIRCRAFT, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH!" the gunner suddenly screamed. 

Seydlitz aimed his commander's sight up and stared in terror as the shapes of 16 Orca fighters bore down on him, growing in size as they closed the distance. Two missiles streaked out of the lead aircraft, and Seydlitz knew that it was over... 

***** 

The 16 Orcas belonged to Sheriff flight, and the missiles were from Terrell. However, luckily for Seydlitz, the missiles weren't for him. They were for another damaged tank right next to him. The missiles pierced the top armor and flew inside, detonating their devastating warheads inside the tank. The entire crew was killed instantly, and the lifeless tank belched smoke as it rolled to a stop. Lucky to have escaped with only a few scratches from collateral damage, Seydlitz's tank backed up to a safe spot out of the range of GDI weapons. 

"Lead has good hits," Terrell reported. 

"Two, on target. Missiles away!" Willy called out as he attacked an AC. He quickly ripple-fired some of his missiles, quickly destroying the lightly-armored bike. 

One by one, the other Orcas from Sheriff flight as well as other Orca fighter flights roared in, firing their missiles and then escaping before any NOD rocket soldiers could fire on them. Just like that, a battalion of frontline NOD vehicles were destroyed. 

Suddenly, Terrell heard, "Sheriff, this is Sky Eye. You have 8 Outlaws inbound." The "Outlaws" that the E-16 Sky Eye had referred to were the code names for NOD Harpy attack helicopters. Despite the GDI SAM towers, a lot of Harpies could do serious damage to the GDI defenses. 

"Roger that, engaging Outlaws. All Sheriffs that still have ammo left, join on me," Terrell smoothly replied. 

In the end, 6 Sheriffs had expended all of their missiles, and had to leave. Terrell then re-designated his remaining 10 fighters as Sheriffs 1 through 10, and banked toward the Outlaws' locations. He could see them very clearly on the air-to-air radar as well as on the JTIDS screen. 

Terrell led his fighters to a point were he knew the Harpies would have to fly through, and rotated his engines to hover. The other Orcas followed his lead. The Harpies got closer--7 miles, 6, 5, 4, 3... 

"Fox 2 on the lead Outlaw!" yelled Terrell as he fired all of his remaining missiles at the head Harpy. Willy followed his lead, also firing at his boss's target. The Harpy never had a chance as the missiles struck, ripping apart the advanced helicopter in mid-air. 

It was pandemonium. The other Orcas and the surprised Harpies followed suit and fired their missiles, each fighter dodging and weaving and shooting to try to best their opponents. Flaming wreckage were falling, twisting, out of the sky. Frantic radio calls were all over the frequency. 

"Five, coming up behind you!" 

"Sam, get the hell out of there!" 

"Oh fuck, I'm hit! I'm going down, I'm going--" 

"I got him! Scratch one Outlaw!" 

"Watch it, two missiles coming at your 3 o'clock!" 

"Mayday mayday mayday, Sheriff 8 is--" 

"Oh Jesus, I don't see no ejection! You bastards, I'll get you! Fox 2, Fox 2!" 

After a furious dogfight that seemed to last forever, the Outlaws aborted their attack and limped away with 5 Harpies down. Since the bad guys were retreating, Terrell saw no point in pursuing them and told his fighters to head home. Sheriff flight had lost 2. 

***** 

"This is not good!" Cadwell yelled into his radio. He was talking to Colonel Richardson. "I've lost 15 Titans, 28 Wolverines, 9 APCs, and about 270 soldiers! Plus, 11 RPG towers and 8 Vulcan towers have been destroyed. My guys are buying it, and fast! It's like for every NOD vehicle we destroy, 10 more pop up!" 

Richardson was thinking hard. He knew that his soldiers were fighting hard and causing a lot of NOD casualties, but they were badly outnumbered. He couldn't see any way to beat the NOD tidal wave. However, he knew of one man who may be able to think of something. 

He told Cadwell, "Call Captain Mitchell! He and his troops fought at Griffin Base. He knows the NOD style. Maybe he can tell you what their weaknesses are!" 

"Roger, out," Cadwell replied. Then, he told his driver, "Get me Mitchell!" 

His driver tried several times, then gave up and told him, "I can't raise him. His radio must be down!" 

Cadwell sighed, then radioed his XO. "Jake, hold the fort, alright?" After saying so, he stepped out of the MMII, and, before his crew could protest, ran toward Team Nightmare. 

***** 

Lying in his foxhole, Mitchell used his left arm to cover his face as another artillery shell slammed into the ground near him. 

"Shit!" yelled Freeman. "They're using those goddamn artillery to hit us from dozens of miles away, and we can't hit back!" 

Mitchell nodded his agreement. "Jesus, I wish we could use the radio to order an airstrike on those bastards!" The radio pack was lying next to him, completely mauled and totalled by collateral damage from an artillery shell that had hit five minutes ago. 

Suddenly, Mitchell saw a figure running toward them. The soldier had no rifle, only a sidearm, and it wasn't even drawn. What the hell? 

As the figure dropped to the ground next to Mitchell, he could finally see that it was Master Seargent Daniel Cadwell, the officer in charge of the Eastern Perimeter Defenses. 

"Sir!" Mitchell yelled and saluted. "What are you doing here?" 

Cadwell returned the salute. "I understand that you survived the Griffin Base attack and are somewhat of an expert on NOD attack strategies?" 

Mitchell nodded. "That's right!" 

"Then can you tell me what they're doing and what their weaknesses are?" Cadwell asked. 

Mitchell thought for a minute, then replied, "Well, sir, right now we're experiencing the follow-up wave. In this phase, they'll throw everything they have against us, including airstrikes and artillery as well as their main vehicles and infantry. Last time, our undoing was from a combination of NOD Banshee fighters and artillery shelling; we were doing just fine against the Stealth Tanks and Devil's Tongues until they showed up, and--Holy Christ, TAKE COVER!" The reason for this suddenly outburst was because two Devil's Tongues and a Sub APC had popped up right in front of them. The flamethrowers were spitting scorching fire, and the APC was unloading Cyborgs. 

Unfortunately for the Cyborgs, they didn't count on Team Nightmare reacting so rapidly. A dozen grenades rolled toward them and exploded, sending human flesh mixed with machine parts flying into the air. One of the platoons from Alpha Company, 7th Airborne Battalion, opened fire with their Vulcan cannons, shredding the APC and one Devil's tongue. The other Devil's Tongue was shot apart from a combination of rifle fire from Mitchell's command platoon and two 120mm shells from two nearby Titans. Almost as a follow-on, a quartet of Orca bombers strafe-bombed another 2-Devil's Tongues-and-1-APC team that had popped up right behind the first team. Licks of fire shot into the air as the devastating explosives pulverized their targets. 

"We lost Private Harkins and Seargent Ewing, sir!" Freeman reported. 

Mitchell nodded and turned back to Cadwell. "As I was saying, the Banshees and arty screwed us up. You need to order in some airstrikes at the arty units in the back, and also have some fighters patrol this area and engage any inbound Banshees. Plus, be ready for a Cluster Missile strike and a Tiberium Missile strike." 

"Sirs!" an officer yelled as he ran over to Mitchell and Cadwell, "There's been a Tiberium Missile strike on the other end of the eastern perimeter! We've got dozens of dead soldiers, but tiberium veins aren't spreading, thanks to the pavement." 

Mitchell looked at Cadwell. "What did I tell ya?" 

Cadwell nodded. "Anything else?" 

Mitchell shook his head. "Nothing else. Just know that they'll throw everything they have against us..."--at this point he paused, thinking--"Wait a minute! That might be our saving grace!" 

Confused, Cadwell motioned at the young captain to go on. 

"Since they're throwing everything that they have against us, they won't be every careful about protecting their flanks or rear. Since Team Nightmare is a rapid-deployment unit, I can sneak around through the north or south and circle around behind them. From there, I can attack their rear and inflict heavy casualties," Mitchell explained. 

Cadwell grinned approvingly. "What will you need?" 

Mitchell replied, "Not a lot. Just Team Nightmare, an artillery battery, and a 40-man Airborne platoon for air support." 

Cadwell nodded. "Go." 

Five minutes later, Team Nightmare, 6 Hover MLRSes, and 40 Jumpjet Infantry dashed through the northern perimeter, which was engaged in its own battle (though much smaller), circled around to the south, and headed for the NOD army's right flank and rear. 

***** 

By this time, Cadwell had returned to his MMII, and had ordered all of the MMIIs to "hit the bastards hard" in order to provide cover fire for Team Nightmare. He had also ordered an airstrike, but the Orcas were currently in the process of rearming. The MMIIs, who were only in reserve before, now marched out line abreast and split the air with their powerful rail guns, immediately destroying 10 Stealth Tanks. The next volley was equally effective, knocking out 10 more NOD vehicles. 

"Bravo fast-movers (Banshees) inbound!" Cadwell's air search officer yelled. 

"Roger," Cadwell replied. He armed the AA missile launchers and waited. The Banshees popped within visual range and Cadwell fired. The missiles hit one of the 6 inbound Banshees and killed it, but there were still 5 left. Cadwell watched as the Banshees got closer, cringing at the thought of the destruction that they could do. 

Fortunately, Mitchell, like he had cold Cadwell earlier, knew that NOD would send their Banshees next, so he had been prepared. He had succeeded in sneaking Team Nightmare and its attachments around to the NOD force's rear. His Airborne platoon and MLRS battery had fired at the Banshees as the sinister-looking fighters passed right in front of them, heavily damaging them. That's why Cadwell's missiles had killed one of them so easily. Now, a second barrage from the frontline SAM towers streaked out and destroyed the Banshees. Another 6 Banshees came in, but this time Team Nightmare was fully ready for them. A hail of bullets and missiles demolished the hapless NOD fighters, sending NOD's air support down the drain. 

***** 

As the last Banshee disintergrated, Mitchell huddled up with Freeman and Team Nightmare's platoon leaders. "Okay, we need to split up into 2 groups: 1 to attack the main NOD force, and 1 to find and destroy the NOD artillery." He looked around and finally came to a decision. He wasn't happy about it, since it meant being seperated from Freeman, the man who had helped him out battle after battle. However, it was necessary. "Seargent Freeman, take an infantry platoon and a Wolverine platoon and hunt down the arty." 

Freeman nodded, saluted, and went off to get his force. 

Mitchell looked at the rest of his team. What the hell were they doing here? Did he actually expect his men to defeat 2 full divisions? asked Mitchell in his head. But he knew the answer: he had to try. Any possible damage would help the rest of the defenses, decrease the intensity of NOD fire, and maybe, just maybe, save his beloved Rachel. 

He said a quick prayer and then yelled at his men to follow him. 

***** 

Rachel spotted a Stealth Tank in the mess through her gunner sight as her loader rammed another grenade into the barrel. 

"On the way!" Rachel yelled as she pressed the trigger. The grenade dutifully flew out and exploded against its target, sending flaming pieces of metal into the air. 

Seydlitz's damaged Stealth Tank was the recipient of Rachel's grenade. After narrowly missing death, he and his crew had foolhardily jumped back into the fray, this time fighting with the GDI forces along the MLR (Main Line of Resistance), just outside the perimeter. The grenade blew a hole in the top of the tank, spreading fires to all of the compartments. 

"GET OUT!" Seydlitz yelled, when it became apparent that the fire suppression systems couldn't handle this one. 

"YES SIR. GO AHEAD, WE'LL CATCH UP!" his gunner yelled. 

Finding it difficult to argue in the middle of a blazing inferno, Seydlitz scrambled out. However, the rest of his crew didn't have time to get out. The ammuntion cooked off, incinerating the tank in a white-hot blaze. 

1st Lt. Wolfgang Seydltiz was now very upset. He looked around and saw mangled dead bodies littered everywhere. They were taking heavier casualties than expected, but they still outnumbered the GDI forces at least 6 to 1, and they should be able to win. But that didn't matter to Seydlitz at the moment. He just wanted some revenge. 

Picking up a dead soldier's rocket launcher, Seydlitz dropped prone and aimed for the RPG tower that had killed his tank. After making sure that his legs were clear of the backblast area, he fired. 

The missile leapt out of the launcher as the booster rocket fired. Then the main motor started and the missile began its deadly journey, closing the distance quickly. The missile struck the tower's base, collapsing the structure. Rachel was knocked unconscious as her helmet smashed into one of the structural support beams on the way down. Some debris cut her or fell on her, badly wounding her body. Her loader, who had just a few scratches, dragged her toward the base hospitals. In its own way, this little fight would influence the entire battle. 

***** 

Riding in his command APC, Mitchell looked at his little handheld TSD (Tactical Situation Display). It showed the locations of all of the GDI forces in and around Checkmate Base, as well as all of the engagements with NOD that were taking place. It also had a little window at the bottom that displayed text messages about the current situation or orders. Some messages were "NOD division crossed Phase Line Fox", or "Cougar two six engaging". The idea of the TSD system was to keep the soldiers aware of everything going around them, without having to yell on the radio. After all, it becomes hard to understand a report when there are 100 other voices screaming on the radio. 

Suddenly, as clear as the full moon shining down on him, Mitchell saw the message "RPG tower Juliet 1-4 destroyed". By itself, the fact that a RPG tower had been destroyed would've been insignificant. However, Juliet 1-4 was the tower that Rachel was in. The sonsofbitches had done it. Thkey'd managed to hurt or kill his first and only love, Rachel. 

Since the fate of one personnel was insignificant in a huge battle like this, Mitchell knew that he couldn't ask anybody whether Rachel was dead or alive. But at this point, it didn't matter. The mere possibility that Rachel was dead was enough to enrage Mitchell. With no way of knowing if his girlfriend was alright, Mitchell was filled with a ruthless hatred that had only one directive: kill the Noddies with extreme prejudice. 

"Sir, we're almost in rifle range!" the driver reported. 

"All units stop!" Mitchell replied. His staff repeated the order to every vehicle in the assault force. 

The ramp fell open with a soft hydraulic whoosh, and Mitchell ran out. To his left and right, his troops were unloading and dropping to the ground. The NOD attackers still had not noticed them yet. 

Quielty, the APCs retreated to a concealed location. The infantry advanced, covered by 20 Wolverines, 6 MLRSes, and 40 Jumpjet Infantry. Still no reaction from the NOD forces, who were totally engrossed in their frontal attack. 

"Fire!" Mitchell yelled. 

Simultaneously, 160 M-16 Mk. II assault rifles, 20 ground-based 20mm Vulcan cannons, 40 air-based Vulcan cannons, and 12 ADAT guided missile launchers opened up. A crack of thunder and the whoosh of ADAT missiles were their targets' only indication of the impending danger, and almost all of the dismounted NOD infantry jumped in fright and looked around wildly. 

Mitchell's infantry were primary concerned with shooting NOD infantry, especially the rocket soldiers. This way, the fire from the infantry was suppressed, making it safer for the Wolverines and MLRSes to massacre the vehicles. The Jumpjet guys joined in, killing both infantry and vehicles. 

The NOD forces was aware that they were being hit from behind by now, and they whirred around quickly, only to receive more firepower straight into their faces. Taking advantage of their opponents' predicament, the GDI defenses fired everything that they had, killing massive numbers of NOD troops while their backs were turned. The NOD guys whirred around again, only to be hit by more fire from both Team Nightmare and the GDI defenses. Broken, confused, and damaged heavily, the NOD forces, which were at only 60% strength by now, began picking individual targets and firing piecemeal instead of coherently focusing their efforts. GDI casaulties greatly reduced, and NOD casaulties mounted. 

At Mitchell's command, the APCs raced forward and the troops loaded onto them quickly. Although it really didn't matter, Mitchell noticed that the shelling had stopped. It looked like Freeman and his boys had succeeded. 

The APCs weaved and cut through the NOD lines, unloading troops right next to the shocked and confused NOD force. Team Nightmare's veterans were great at point-blank fighting, and quickly reduced the NOD force down to 40% with the help of the airborne and artillery units. Also, Orca fighters finally came in, adding their own firepower to the fray. Since the GDI forces had advanced IFF and sensors, they aimed their weapons right where they wanted them to go, greatly reducing the risk of "fractricide"--friendly fire. 

As the NOD force was cut down to 1/3 of its starting size, it got the idea that it wasn't going to win today. Mitchell's terrific orders, coupled with Team Nightmare's terrific fighting, had paved the way for the rapid defeat of the largest NOD strike force ever assembled. Mostly, Team Nightmare had won because of Mitchell's gutsy order to mix right in with the NOD lines and take them out from up close. This aggressiveness was solely because of his anger. 

In any case, the beaten NOD soldiers retreated, occasionally firing while running but not really hitting anything. Within minutes, fighting had completely ceased, and an eerie silence replaced the sound of explosions. 

***** 

1300 DAY 8, NEAR A FOREST 

Agent X watched the road through the magnification sight on his sniper rifle. His targets should be here any minute now. 

Indeed, after a few minutes, 3 troop trucks came into the kill zone. The ground under the lead truck suddenly exploded, making it belch smoke and shudder to a stop. Similiar explosions disabled the other 2 trucks. 

X grinned. The trucks had run into some old surplus mines that NOD forces had found in an armory in Germany. The mines were leftovers from the Soviet invasion of Allied Europe. While these anti-personnel mines were not strong enough to kill a vehicle outright, they were certainly strong enough to disable a truck. 

Immediately, X began shooting. Twenty rounds per truck were plenty to ensure that anything inside would be killed, and X squeezed off the bullets in 20 seconds. By the time he was finished, all three trucks looked like swiss cheese. 

"HQ, Patriot has eliminated targets, over," X reported over the radio. 

"Patriot, HQ copies. Head back, over," HQ ordered. 

"Patriot copies. I'm going to check out the targets, do a damage assessment, and finish off survivors, over." 

"Negative, Patriot. Return immediately, over." 

X was puzzled. Why did HQ want him to return immediately? After all, he'd just killed three trucks of GDI soldiers, and standard NOD tactics were to check out the target to make sure that it was completely destroyed. "Uh, HQ, Patriot will take only a moment, over and out." He ended the conversation before HQ had a chance to protest. 

Quickly but cautiously, X moved over to the first truck. He raised the canvas flap and peered inside. What he saw completely shocked him. 

They were civilians. What's more, they were women and children. 

X ran over to the 2nd truck. The people here were civilians too. Refugees from the fighting, no doubt. It was the same story as the 1st truck: they were all dead. 

In the 3rd truck, there was a woman alive. She had massive internal injuries and probably had about 5 minutes to live. X thought about shooting her to put her ot of her misery, but then she spoke. The woman had mistaken X for a GDI soldier who had come to rescue them. 

The injured woman had to struggle to get her words out. "My-my daughter. Is she alright?" 

When X didn't reply, the woman continued, "P-please helllp mee. I can't lose hhhher." 

A sudden rush of compassion surged through X, and he put a finger on her lips. "Ma'am, you should save your strength. 

The woman shook her head as vigorously as she could. "N-no. Please. Ssshe just lllost her ffffather five ddddays ago, tttto an ennnemy ccccommando attack onnn our city." 

X went cold. "A GDI-allied city?" 

The woman nodded. 

X closed his eyes. Oh God, oh God, what had he done? This was the mother of the girl! The girl whose father he had shot! 

When he opened his eyes again, the woman's eyes was lifeless, and her body had gone limp. He closed her eyes and walked away. 

Suddenly, he noticed tracks heading into the woods. No doubt a survivor. Using the bio-molecular scanner implanted in his left eye, he scanned the tracks--and received yet another shock. The DNA on the tracks matched the DNA of the girl that he had met 5 days ago. She was still alive! 

However, her current path would take her directly to a NOD base. More specifically, his headquarters. Filled with a sense of urgency, X set off after her, following the tracks. She couldn't have had more than 10 minutes of a head start, and he prayed that he would reach her before she would fall into the hands of his comrades. The base was covered by Stealth Generators, and she wouldn't see it until it was too late. 

When he looked back on this incident years later, he would recognize that this was the moment that had begun his journey from NOD loyalist to GDI supporter. 

***** 

On the entire way back, X looked everywhere but couldn't find the girl. Arriving at the base, he charged into the Ops room and slammed his left hand onto the desk. 

The colonel at the desk looked up calmly. "Yes, Agent?" 

"Those were civilians. I SHOT CIVILIANS!" X yelled angrily. 

"Yes, that's right." 

"You lied to me! Why?" 

The colonel shrugged. "We had to keep the true nature of your target from you. If you knew, you might have gotten...squeamish." 

X glared at him. "WHY KILL CIVILIANS?" 

The colonel stood up. "Those trucks were full of GDI supporters. To us, those are as bad as GDI soldiers." 

"They were INNOCENT CIVILIANS?" 

The colonel's voice began to get louder. "Agent, there is no such thing as innocents in war. They are all biased, all guilty, all tainted. All dangerous." 

"Come with me to the target scene. Look at all the cold, lifeless bodies of the WOMEN AND CHILDREN that you made me shoot! Then, you tell me if they're dangerous," X shot back. 

"Enough of this!" the colonel roared. "I will not have my judgement questioned by my own agent! It is time to understand your boundaries. You are a skilled and cunning agent, a true servant of Kane. However, that does not give you immunity. You do not have thew authority to choose your targets. I choose them for you! Do you understand me?" 

X nodded bitterly and replied, "Yes, sir." 

The colonel's expression lightened. "Cheer up, my friend. By this time next year, this war will be over and the Brotherhood will rule the world. For being such a loyal agent to the will of the Brotherhood, you will probably be promoted to Field Marshall. Think of all the glory! Do you understand, now?" 

X nodded. "Yes, sir. I will continue to perform my duties, as I always have." 

"Good. Dismissed. Go get some rest; briefing for your next target will be at 1600 hours." 

X bowed and left the room. 

Instead of going directly to his quarters, X decided to take a little walk around the base. After a few minutes, he came across two guards and their two prisoners. 

"Greetings, Comrade Agent," they greeted him. 

"Good morning. And who are your guests?" X asked, motioning over to the GDI soldiers, who were looking at him with pure hate. 

"Captured soldiers from one of the GDI OPs. We're taking him Tiberium Chemical Testing (TCT)," one of the guards replied. 

"You mean, you're going to tamper and damage their bodies using tiberium?" X asked. This came as a total shock to him; he had always thought that NOD only used volunteers in tiberium testing. The fact that these 2 GDI soldiers were being taken to TCT against their will was completely horrific to him. 

The other guard shrugged. "They're servicing the Brotherhood. It is their honor, redemption for the blasphemy that they've committed." 

"I doubt they see it that way," X pointed out. 

"It is not their choice," the guard replied. 

After a moment, X nodded and walked away. He was aghast: he had no idea that the Brotherhood was so cruel. Apparently, the Geneva Convention meant nothing to his comrades. 

Suddenly, he came across another 2 guards. They were holding a struggling girl, and when X looked closely at the girls' face, he was surprised to see some bruises on her cheeks; the guards had obviously hit her. However, that wasn't the only thing that had surprised him. It was THE girl! 

As calmly as possible, X asked the guards where they had found her. The taller of the 2 guards replied, "Out in the woods, near the base. Little brat put up one hell of a fight. We're taking her to TCT." 

That finally did it for X. There was no way that X would let them poison this innocent little girl. Besides, he owed her; he had taken her father's life and her mother's life, but maybe he could save hers. 

He took out his sidearm--a silenced Browning 9mm pistol--and shot the two guards quickly. Then, quickly, he kneeled down and looked into the little girl's eyes. He could see a glimmer of recognition in those deep blue pools. "I know you don't trust me, I need you to give me a chance this time. I want to get you out of here and to someplace safe. However, I have to do something first. Go hide over there in that bush. Do you understand?" 

The girl hesistated for a moment, then said, "Yes." It was the first time that he had heard her speak, and her soft voice strengthened his will while softening his emerging heart. He grinned and ran over to the two captured GDI soldiers, holstering his pistol as he ran. 

He ran up to the guards and said, "The colonel has countermanded your orders; you are to bring the prisoners over to the interrogation center immediately." 

The guard replied, "Where are your confirmation papers?" 

X reached into his left pocket. "They're right here..." Then he took out his pistol and shot the first guard in the throat. Before the second guard could do anything, even shout a warning, he was also shot in the throat." 

X looked at the two GDI soldiers. "Come with me, I'm taking you to safety." 

The two of them looked at him suspiciously. 

"Come on, let's move!" X insisted urgently and began running. Deciding that they had nothing to lose, the two GDI soldiers picked up the two dead guards' assault rifles and ran after him. 

The three of them ran back to the girl. X lifted her onto his shoulders and began jogging toward the west exit. Suddenly, four guards came out from behind a building and nearly crashed into the four escapees. Looking at the girl and the GDI soldiers with confusion, the lead guard was about to ask what was going on when X shot him. X managed to shoot another one before the two remaining guards reacted. 

One of them yelled, "Security Alert!" They ducked behind a building, dodging X's bullets. Cursing, X led the two soldiers over to the motor pool. They took refuge behind one of the Stealth Tanks. This was a really bad time to pick a fight, and with the security forces coming, they needed to move. 

Then, it came to him. It was right there in front of his eyes! Hijack a Stealth Tank! 

Using an electronic lock-picking key, X opened the hatch of the tank and climbed in. He put the girl into the observer "guest" seat. The two GDI soldiers sat in the driver and gunner seats. 

By this time, the security forces were here. The only real threat that was there was a battle-scarred Attack Cycle that couldn't have had more than 25% of its life remaining. Without any spoken words, the GDI officer in the gunner's seat fired two Dragon missiles at the AC. It blew up in a fiery blaze that made all of the security guards back off momentarily. That was all that X and his newfound comrades needed. The GDI soldier in the driver's seat gunned the engine, and the Stealth Tank cloaked itself as it rolled out of the base. 

***** 

0900 DAY 9, NEAR CHECKMATE BASE CHECKPOINT KILO 3 

It had been easy to hide from the units searching for them. All they had to do was hide in one place while cloaked and wait until their pursuers gave up. Then, Agent X, the girl, and the two GDI soldiers began driving toward Checkmate base. Now, they were at one of the checkpoints. 

Needless to say, a Stealth Tank de-cloaking right in front of them came as a huge shock to the officers inside the checkpoint building, and it took a while for them to calm down. The two GDI soldiers climbed out of the tank first. 

"Lieutenant Smith! Coporal Whiting! We thought you'd been captured!" exclaimed the captain in charge of the checkpoint. 

"We were, sir. But a defector was kind enough to free us," Whiting replied. 

"A defector?" 

Smith nodded. X climbed out of the tank and saluted the officers. 

Whiting grinned at the captain. "This is Agent X. We've gotten to know each other quite well over the past 12 hours. X was fed up with NOD's inhumane tactics and freed us. Then, we stole a Stealth Tank and escaped. We also have a little girl with us; she had been captured while escaping a shot-up civilian convoy, and the NOD guards were taking her over to TCT." None of them knew that it was X who had shot up the convoy. 

The captain was horrified. "They were going to test tiberium radiation on a young girl? Bastards!" 

Smith nodded soberly. "They're becoming more despicable each day. But we have more important things to do right now. We have to get to Checkmate Base and report the position of the NOD base that we escaped, before they move. Time is of the essence, sir!" 

The captain nodded. "Right away. We'll provide you with an escort and clear you to enter Checkmate Base." 

***** 

6 HOURS LATER, CHECKMATE BASE ODOPS PLANNING ROOM 

Mitchell sat in his chair, waiting for the briefing to begin. Although he pretended to look at the Casualty Report in his hands, his mind was a million miles away. Or, more specifically, half a mile away, in the base hospital. He had gone there earlier to visit Rachel, but she had been unconscious. There was some hemorraghing in the brain, and the doctors had to operate before they could really be sure if she was going to survive. He had been told the truth: there was a sizable change that she'd suffer permanent brain damage. 

Colonel Richardson walked into the room and cleared his throat, snapping Mtichell out of his trance. As the entire room became quiet, Richardson opened a folder and began speaking. "What happens in the next 24 hours is going to determine the outcome of Operation Northern Mayhem. A NOD defector has informed us of the location of his base, which is shielded by Stealth Generators. He has also revealed the location of a similiar base, about 20 or so miles from the first one. These will be designated Objectives Alpha and Bravo. Our job will to put together a strike force as soon as possible to go and annihilate these two bases, which serve as staging areas for all NOD activities in the West Russia Area. If we want to gain dominance in the WRA to protect our research centers, we have to eliminate these two bases." 

"The assault forces will come out of our base as well as two nearby bases: Cobra and Grizzly. To simplify things, the ground forces out of a certain base will be named after that base. For example, Cobra Base's forces will be named Task Force Cobra, our forces will be named Task Force Checkmate, and so on," Colonel Richardson began. He walked over to a wall and pulled down a map. 

"As you can see, the assaults on both objectives will be supported by airstrikes from this base. Task Force Cobra will attack the north side of Objective Bravo. Meanwhile, Task Force Grizzly will feint an attack on Objective Alpha, then go east and turn north to attack Objective Bravo. Along the way, they will fire at Objective Alpha's guard forces and defenses, just to provoke them and make them think it's really an attack. This will hopefully draw away a large portion of Alpha's guards to attack TF Grizzly. 

"That's when our Task Force Checkmate come into play. We will head directly east and help Grizzly engage Alpha's guards. Once that's done, we'll head south and attack the now-unguarded Objective Alpha. At the same time, Grizzly will have arrived at Objective Bravo to help Cobra attack Objective Bravo. If all goes well, both of these NOD terrorist bases will be destroyed and we can take a nice long rest," Richardson told everyone. "Questions? 

One officer raised his hand. 

"Yes?" 

"Uh, sir, how much resistance are we expecting?" the officer asked. 

"We are not sure. The bases are cloaked, making it impossible to count how many soldiers and vehicles they have. However, according to our imformant, we're estimating in excess of a brigade of elite guard forces in each base," Richardson replied. 

"Shit, that's a lot of guys," one of the other officers commented. 

"Any other questions?" 

Mitchell spoke up, "Sir, when are we moving out?" 

"As soon as possible. You'll go to your respective units, plan your strategies, and submit them for my approval in 2 hours. We've got to move fast." 

Mitchell nodded. 

"Any more questions? No? Alright then, dismissed." 


End file.
